Feature Channels: AIDS and HIV

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Malaria parasites, although widespread among wild chimpanzees and gorillas, have not been detected in bonobos, a chimp cousin. Although the researchers saw evidence of a new malaria species in bonobos, it was limited to one small area of their range. This work helps the hunt for biological loopholes to potentially exploit the life history of ape pathogens to better understand how they cross over to humans.

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Computer modeling has helped a team of scientists, including several scholars from the University of Chicago, to decode previously unknown details about the "budding" process by which HIV forces cells to spread the virus to other cells. The findings, published Nov. 7 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, may offer a new avenue for drugs to combat the virus.

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Rural counties continue to rank lowest among counties across the U.S., in terms of health outcomes. A group of national organizations including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the National 4-H Council are leading the way to close the rural health gap.

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HIV patients and their doctors are urged to be more aware of the additional health risks associated with treated HIV infection. This follows new research that shows HIV patients at high risk for a heart attack or stroke are also at substantially greater risk for chronic kidney disease and vice versa.

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The research team compared samples of vaginal microbiota of both women who were involved in sex work and those who were not sex workers in Nairobi, Kenya.

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UCLA is co-sponsoring a major conference spotlighting the impact of HIV/AIDS on black women at the local, state and national levels. “A Paradigm Shift: The Impact of HIV/AIDS on African American Women and Families”, runs Nov. 2-3 at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta.

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Text messages and phone calls may be acceptable modes of gathering insights into the behaviors of young men who have sex with men.

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A new University at Buffalo study has shown that HIV testing among transgender adults was higher in those who identified as female, were African-American or Hispanic, or had a history of incarceration.

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A $2.5 million federal grant will allow a multidisciplinary team at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth in Houston to provide prevention and treatment information about HIV, AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases to underserved individuals with substance abuse or mental disorders.

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Researchers have solved the last unknown protein structure of HIV-1, the retrovirus that can cause AIDS. This will further explain how the virus infects human cells and how progeny viruses are assembled and released from infected cells.

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Scientists have for the first time shown that a novel compound effectively suppresses production of the virus in chronically infected cells.

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Leaders in HIV research and treatment gather at UAB to address laws that prohibit gay men from donating blood.

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Following studies showing that cocaine influences the transcription and replication of HIV, Mudit Tyagi, PhD, at GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences, will lead a team researching the underlying mechanisms of that influence.

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Scientists have developed an agent to “wake up” HIV lying dormant in cells, which causes it to begin replicating so that either the immune system or the virus itself would kill the cell harboring HIV. They call the technique “kick and kill.”

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The National Institute on Drug Abuse has awarded $5 million to researchers at UCLA to develop a resource and data center for millions of pieces of research, lab samples, statistics and other data aimed at boosting research into the effects of substance abuse on HIV/AIDS.

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Researchers at Thomas Jefferson University studying combinations of drugs against HIV have discovered why certain drugs sometimes act synergistically but sometimes do not.

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Southern Illinois University School of Medicine and the University of Chicago Medicine will use a $1.13 million federal grant to study the opioid epidemic affecting the state’s 16 southernmost counties.

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Scientists are closer to discovering what makes some individuals better able to clear viral infections than others can, thanks to a new study by researchers at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School's Child Health Institute of New Jersey and the University of Chicago.

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The health effects of where people live, work, and interact are well documented, as are the value of neighborhood-level structural interventions designed to improve health. But place-based characteristics that contribute to disparities in HIV transmission and disease burden are poorly understood, possibly resulting in less-effective HIV risk reduction interventions and programming.

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The University of Illinois at Chicago College of Nursing has received a four-year federal grant to assist HIV-positive prisoners in Indonesia — a southeast Asian country where the number of new infections is increasing rapidly.

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An international team of researchers has developed a simple way for healthcare providers to quickly identify and prioritize patients at the greatest risk of death.

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The University of Chicago’s Center for Interdisciplinary Inquiry and Innovation (Ci3) in Sexual and Reproductive Health was awarded a grant to increase access to PrEP in drugstore pharmacies in communities with high rates of STI and HIV infection.

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Article describes simulated prediction of heat flux that ITER divertor plates will be able to tolerate.

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For years, medical investigators have tried and failed to develop vaccines for a type of staph bacteria associated with the deadly superbug MRSA. But a new study by Cedars-Sinai investigators shows how staph cells evade the body’s immune system, offering a clearer picture of how a successful vaccine would work.

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African-American men who have sex with men (MSM) remain at heightened risk for HIV infection and account for the largest number of African-Americans living with HIV/AIDS. It has long been understood that there is a clear and persistent association between poverty, transactional sex behavior, and HIV risk. A new University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (Penn Nursing) study has investigated how educational status relates to HIV risk in this population.

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Teva and Mount Sinai Health System pursue new models to reduce cost and complexity of care

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Researchers find a way to reduce replication of the AIDS virus in the gastrointestinal tract.

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Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have made a discovery that could speed efforts to develop a successful HIV vaccine.

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Scientists may have found a clue to why people living with HIV have double the likelihood of developing heart disease. The findings, made by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Center for Vaccine Research and National Institutes of Health, also show that an experimental drug may hold promise as a potential treatment.

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GW researcher received a $2 million grant to study the body's natural defenses against HIV in order to drive development of better vaccines and therapies.

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The August tip sheet from Fred Hutch includes stories on breast cancer, skin cells as a cancer repair mechanism, an HIV prevention study, air pollution risk and more -- Here are quick summaries for journalists that offer sources and story ideas from Fred Hutch.

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When communities face epidemics of drug abuse, a wave of infectious diseases often follows, including hepatitis and HIV. A new federally-funded program in southern West Virginia, led by West Virginia University, will seek to interrupt that cycle. 

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• Birmingham committed to the “90:90:90” principle, whereby 90 percent of people living with HIV will know their HIV status, 90 percent of those who know their status will be engaged with clinical care and on anti-HIV therapy, and 90 percent of those on treatment will achieve full viral suppression • Paris Declaration confirms 13th city to commit to being a Fast-Track City in the effort to end the spread of HIV/AIDS • HIV/AIDS research powerhouse, UAB stands behind commitment of city to end the spread of the disease

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The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Health System a five-year, $3.8 million grant for the first long-term study to test whether medical marijuana reduces opioid use among adults with chronic pain, including those with HIV.

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Stigma due to age, sexual orientation, HIV status contributes to poor mental, physical health

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Perry N. Halkitis, new dean of Rutgers School of Public Health, is cited for his scholarship and advocacy for gay men’s health

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According to a new paper published in the scientific journal mBio, an increase in some types of bacteria living under the foreskin can increase a man’s risk of HIV infection by up to 63 percent.

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For the first time researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have developed an assay that can measure antigen production and clearance caused by a latency-reversing agent.

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"Good morning, doctor, I am here for my gene editing appointment.” In the future, could this be a greeting heard in physician offices around the world? With the introduction of CRISPR technology, genetic material can now be more easily and precisely edited, even creating changes that can subsequently be inherited by offspring.

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Press can register here to livestream this special session through Newswise Live on Monday, July 31 at 7:30 PM EDT

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The reservoirs of long-term HIV infection mean patients must keep taking daily medication for life. But a new discovery could aid the search for new drugs to clear it entirely

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Offering HIV testing to people at health checks when they register at a new GP surgery in high-prevalence areas is cost-effective and will save lives, according to a study involving over 86,000 people from 40 GP surgeries

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Uncircumcised men with high levels of anaerobic penile bacteria at higher risk for HIV

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The National Institutes of Health has awarded the University of North Carolina more than $5.6 million to test a therapeutic vaccine for HIV. The study's principal investigator says the goals are to redirect and strengthen the immune response to the virus.

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Cancer drug Vorinostat given every 72 hours can awaken sleeping HIV in the body, says researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. However, it does not clear or deplete infection, meaning additional advances will be needed to achieve a cure.

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Researchers from the University of Colorado School of Medicine have discovered that a process that protects the body from autoimmune disease also prevents the immune system from generating antibodies that can neutralize the HIV-1 virus. The findings, which will be published July 11 in The Journal of Experimental Medicine, might be considered by scientists trying to develop a vaccine that can stimulate the production of these neutralizing antibodies.

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Advancements in antiretroviral therapy (ART) have allowed people living with HIV/AIDS to maintain a quality of life similar to those without HIV infection. Medication adherence is key, however, as non-adherence to ART can lead to poorer HIV suppression, decreased CD4 cell count, and an increased risk for antiretroviral drug resistance. Prior research has shown that alcohol use is common among persons living with HIV/AIDS, and that the rate of current heavy drinking may be almost double that of the general population. This study examined whether “at-risk” alcohol use – defined as more than three drinks per day for women and more than four drinks per day for men – was associated with ART non-adherence among persons living with HIV/AIDS.

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A gel aimed at preventing HIV, which is being trialled in Africa, is only used by women with their male partner’s approval.

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St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital discovery of the mechanism of T cell exhaustion will lead to treatments to enhance immunotherapies against cancers and such viruses as HIV

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A streamlined and integrated method of tracking medical records called a laboratory health information exchange narrowed the gap in anti-retroviral therapy and viral suppression between HIV-positive blacks and whites.